Charles Stross, writer of the Laundry Files (starting with The Atrocity Archives), as well as the near-future thriller Halting State and space operas Saturn’s Children and Neptune’s Brood, may write another far-future space opera. But, as he said in his blog yesterday, he felt that there needs to be some sort of “Evil Overlord’s List” about standard space opera cliches that have developed over the years and so he started listing them off.

Each list is about a different subject, starting with “Planetary civilizations” and then “Biology,” the last one being “Aliens.” As Stross says, it’s not an exhaustive list, but it is a good start. I’ll refrain from posting the entire thing here, but here is the list of cliches about “Culture”:

There is usually only one culture per planet

... Sometimes there are two, to provide for an oppositional plot dynamic

... Pay no attention to the blank spots on the map

... And especially don’t go looking for the unmarked mass graves

Planetary natives are either Colonists or Indigenous

Indigenous peoples are either Primitive or Advanced (and Decadent)

Advanced Indigines either don’t have space travel or gave it up (see: Decadent)

Primitive Indigines are either Tribal or Mediaeval

Mediaeval Indigines invariably recapitulate the politics of the Hundred Years War

Visits to Mediaeval Indigenous Colonies can be approximated to a side-quest into Fantasyland

If the planet is a Colony it is either a Lost Colony or a New Colony

Lost Colonies may resemble Primitive Indigines but never Advanced

New Colonies resemble Tombstone, AZ, circa 1880

New Colonists live in log cabins, ride mules/horses and carry ~six-guns~ blasters

... You can find logs (cabins, for the construction of) everywhere on planets